Vacaville City Council to weigh North Village apartment project

More building is going on in Vacaville's North Village neighborhood, and the developer is requesting aid in the form of an exemption from community facilities district (CFD) participation -- for the 228-unit North Village Villas apartment project, that is.

The matter goes before the City Council on Tuesday.

The project, approved in 2007, is slated to participate in CFD No. 8. Collected fees would go toward funding services, such as public safety, within that district.

According to a staff report, the developer advised the city that, with an exemption, "They would be able to commence construction in phases and complete all units in the project by January 2016." The developer also pointed out that a similar request by developer A.G. Spanos for his Quinn Crossing Apartments, a neighboring project, was granted last year.

But the report points out that "the two projects are substantially different, in terms of their entitlement status. First, North Village is a project subject to a Development Agreement that stipulated the formation of the CFD; no such agreement was in place for Quinn Crossing.

"Second, North Village Villas is currently in CFD No. 8, whereas, Quinn Crossing was not yet approved when the request was made. Furthermore, the cost for multifamily in CFD No. 8 versus CFD No. 12 is 63 percent less."

The report continued that if apartment ownership patterns continue to create a problem for CFD participation, the city should "consider exempting all multifamily rental units in the project, in exchange for amending the Development Agreement to require annexation of all ownership housing units into CFD No. 12."

City staff recommends denial of the request to grant North Village Villas the exemption.

In other matters, the City Council is set to consider and approve the 2013-15 Strategic Plan report.

The Strategic Plan includes projects that are based on the four priority goals as defined by the City Council: "Public Safety," "Strengthen the Local Economy," "Promoting Community Viability" and "Maintaining Effective and Efficient City Services." Strategic Plan projects have been greatly affected by the loss of redevelopment funding, city staff noted. An updated and shortened version of the plan has been prepared with the loss of funding sources taken into account.